Twin Cities want commissioners' help with bridge dispute

Officials in the Twin Cities want Tuscarawas County commissioners to arbitrate their ongoing dispute with county Engineer Joe Bachman over who is responsible for inspecting bridges in the two communities.

Officials in the Twin Cities want Tuscarawas County commissioners to arbitrate their ongoing dispute with county Engineer Joe Bachman over who is responsible for inspecting bridges in the two communities.

In preparation for a possible meeting with commissioners, Uhrichsville Law Director Brett Hillyer and Dennison Village Solicitor J.J. Ong have filed a public records request asking for documents related to the bridges.

Among other things, they are seeking from Bachman:

n Service records for each bridge from the time of construction to 2013.

n Initial installation documents for each bridge.

n Authorization for construction of each bridge.

n A list of costs associated with bridge maintenance in general, actual costs for each bridge and any anticipated inspection costs for each bridge going forward.

Bachman sent letters last year to nine municipalities in the county, informing them that he was cutting the inspection service because of financial constraints.

The mayors of Uhrichsville and Dennison have made it clear that they do not want to assume the responsibility, because it would tax their budgets.

"We wanted to find out the basis for making the decision," Hillyer said. "It hasn't been made exactly clear."

He added that Bachman's department has a carryover balance at the end of each year. "He must not be using all of his money to run his department," he said.

"If the city is going to take over the bridges, we should have plans and schematics and the service history," Hillyer said. "We've never had these bridges, we've never had to service them."

He compared it to the purchase of a used car, saying that the buyer would want to know its service history.

Bachman said he has complied with the records request.

"That is the first contact I have had regarding ownership of the bridges," he said, but he added that he had discussed the situation on the phone with Dennison Mayor Tim Still.

Still said he has received no information on how much it would cost to inspect or maintain the bridges. "I want to find out, if and when we are forced to do it," he said.

A new program that is being developed by the Ohio Department of Transportation might help alleviate the problem.

Steve Faulkner, ODOT press secretary, said his agency is going to offer a program in which it would administer bridge inspections for communities in the state.

If municipalities opt into the program, ODOT would pay for the inspections with money from the gasoline tax. The cost then would be deducted from that city or village's gas tax allocation.

"What we're doing is reaching out to municipalities to let them know this program is getting started," Faulkner said. "We will look at the interest and the need to decide when the program will be fully launched."

Page 2 of 2 - ODOT either would supply its own bridge inspectors on a contract basis or hire outside inspectors to do the job.

Uhrichsville and Dennison officials have yet to set up a meeting with commissioners.

"We are going to ask them to instruct the engineer to continue what he has been doing in the past," Hillyer said. "We want someone to continue maintaining the bridges and inspecting them.

"It's no little sum, and that's just the equipment," he said of the two tasks. "It's not something we need to be paying."